The Conservation Alliance

TCA is thrilled to welcome Carla Fox to our team as the new Membership Director! Carla has been working at the intersection of business, philanthropy, and the environment for a decade. Most recently she served as Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for Public Lands, a brand of DICK's Sporting Goods, and led the Public Lands Fund. Prior to that, she was the Director of Business Membership and led membership and philanthropy advising activities for 5 years at 1% for the Planet. Please join us in welcoming Carla!

Just two more days of this season’s #WeKeepItWild campaign! Through Wednesday, October 30th, 12 brands have generously committed to donating 5% of all online sales to The Conservation Alliance to help protect North America’s outdoor spaces and wild places. Since 1989, our collective work has protected over 124 million acres of land, and this week your purchases can contribute to preserving even more. Learn more and shop online with any of the following partners: AdventureKEEN Astronaut Foods Backpacker's Pantry BOCO Gear Gregory Mountain Products GU Energy Labs La Sportiva Nomadix Oboz Footwear Royal Robbins Shār Superfeet Worldwide

This week, 12 brands have generously committed to donating 5% of all online sales to The Conservation Alliance to help protect North America’s outdoor spaces and wild places. Since 1989, our collective work has protected over 124 million acres of land, and through October 30th, your purchases can contribute to preserving even more. You can learn more and shop online with any of the following partners: AdventureKEEN Astronaut Foods Backpacker's Pantry BOCO Gear Gregory Mountain Products GU Energy Labs La Sportiva Nomadix Oboz Footwear Royal Robbins Shār Superfeet Worldwide

The Conservation Alliance is proud to highlight individuals at member companies who are doing exceptional work to advance TCA priority campaigns and grantmaking efforts. This time, we are excited to recognize Soraya Smith, President of Backpacker's Pantry. Backpacker's Pantry has been supporting TCA almost since its inception, recognizing the importance of protecting and conserving wild open spaces, as necessary for human health, our planet’s health and the longevity of the outdoor industry. More recently, Soraya has found ways to utilize her product, her skills as a chef, and her knowledge as a business leader, to nourish both the minds and bodies of the TCA community. Backpacker's Pantry has generously donated food for field events, and Soraya has spoken at events in support of the Dolores River campaign. Notably, Soraya and her team cooked a very special meal for all of the 2023 summit attendees. This particular meal featured wild caught, indigenous woman caught Bristol Bay Alaska salmon, and Soraya shared the story of the salmon and why saving Bristol Bay from the proposed pit mining was imperative. In describing why she does this work, Soraya says, "combining our love of the outdoors with globally inspired good food that not only satiates but brings a smile, is reason enough for us to continue to do what we do. We work to help preserve these open places, so that the next generation can enjoy what we love." 📷: Bergreen Photography

TCA's Vice President of Public Affairs, Shoren Brown, is in New Orleans this week participating in the AMERICAN FLY FISHING TRADE ASSOCIATION Industry Summit and spending time testing out fly fishing gear in the marsh. While TCA has invested in fish and wildlife habitat conservation for decades, we have recently been expanding our membership into the fishing industry. Healthy waters, intact habitats, and guaranteed access for folks who hunt and fish is something we are deeply committed to at TCA. Lucas Bissett

The creation of the Sáttítla National Monument would protect over 206,000 acres of culturally significant, ecologically rich, and geologically unique public land just 30 miles from Mt. Shasta. Thank you to the 50 companies that have signed-on to a hashtag #MobilizingForMonuments letter asking President Biden to permanently protect this landscape; recognizing that public lands are not only good for people, they are good for business. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/gMFejjb5.

Earlier this month, The Conservation Alliance hosted our final Backyard Collective event of the year in Acme, Washington. Over 30 participants joined us, representing TCA member companies Brooks Running, DUCT TAPE THEN BEER, Port Side Productions, REI, and Superfeet Worldwide as well as TCA grantees American Whitewater, Trust for Public Land, and The Wilderness Land Trust. Participants worked in partnership with our host and grantee, Whatcom Land Trust, at an 8 acre property along the South Fork Nooksack River. This property has been overtaken by invasive species, so volunteers planted, blue tubed and caged 528 trees to create a diverse, resilient forest full of many different native species. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/gQxpKZuq.

Yesterday Senator Michael Bennet announced the introduction of the Gunnison Outdoor Resource Protection (GORP) Act in the U.S. Senate. The GORP Act is the result of a community-driven initiative more than 10 years in the making that has garnered deep and widespread support in and around Gunnison County and across the state. The Conservation Alliance has been proud to support this campaign through advocacy and grantmaking for multiple years in pursuit of protections for nearly 500,000 acres of key habitat, watersheds, and recreation through new Wilderness and special management designations. Thank you to Senator Bennett, The Wilderness Society (a TCA grantee), and all other organizations that have worked to move this bill forward. Learn more and join us in supporting the Act at 🔗 GORPact.org.

TODAY the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the designation of the Chumash Sanctuary! The sanctuary will recognize and preserve Chumash tribal history and protect the area’s rich wildlife, including many at-risk species, such as snowy plovers, southern sea otters, leatherback sea turtles, black abalone, and blue whales. TCA is proud to have supported the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, a women-led nonprofit and California recognized Tribe, through our Confluence Program.

In honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day, we want to take a minute to highlight Indigenous-led organizations that The Conservation Alliance is proud to be supporting through grants. Each one of these groups is actively working to protect outdoor spaces while centering the authority and honor of Native communities and cultures. Learn a little more about them below and at https://lnkd.in/gXdK4t8W. The dena kayeh institute is working to protect the Dene K’éh Kusān landscape which consists of more than 40,000 square kilometers which are home to more than 18,000 cultural sites. The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has played a fundamental role in protecting the 28 million acres of D-1 lands in Alaska. The Northern Chumash Tribal Council is developing the first tribally led scientific marine sanctuary collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). People of Red Mountain (Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu) are actively advocating for the protection of sacred and environmentally sensitive landscapes in the McDermitt Caldera region spanning Nevada and Oregon. Largely thanks to Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, three dams have now been removed from the Klamath River, opening up fish passage to more than 400 miles of potential habitat. The TEXAS TRIBAL BUFFALO PROJECT currently stewards and is working to expand protections on 77 acres of land with a growing cultural herd of 22 bison. In Wyoming, the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative is working to acquire and maintain fee lands and to enact land use changes on Tribal land for buffalo conservation which would ensure buffalo are protected as wildlife under Tribal law. Please help us celebrate these organizations and all they are doing to better both our planet and our communities.